David Norvell was 12 years old when he mailed off an application for a license from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, built a still in his back yard and began fermenting oranges to produce ethanol to power his lawnmower.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in science,\u201d Norvell said. \u201cEven as a kid I was doing things out of the box, building things and trying to understand how things work and how to make things better and more efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n
That intellectual curiosity and an eye for conservation will serve Norvell well as the Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s new \u2013 and first \u2013 assistant vice president for sustainability initiatives. The newly created position elevates Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s vow to have a greener campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ has reaffirmed the commitment for the sustainability initiatives we\u2019ve been pursuing,\u201d said Norvell, a 1993 alumnus who graduated with a mechanical engineering degree. \u201cOur vision is to provide students with a campus environment that not only supports sustainability but becomes a leader in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norvell\u2019s new job puts an increased focus on Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s sustainability goals. He has no shortage of work. In 2007, Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ President John C. Hitt signed the American College & University Presidents\u2019 Climate Commitment, making Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ one of the first to pledge to be climate neutral by 2050.<\/p>\n
To achieve that goal, the university must have no net greenhouse gas emissions. There are interim goals, including a big one already underway: ensuring that by 2020, 15 percent of the energy used by Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ comes from renewable sources rather than fossil fuels.<\/p>\n
There are already some solar panels spread around campus, the largest of which \u2013 a 107-kilowatt installation \u2013 sits next to Garage B. But it will take a lot more to help meet the 2020 goal. The university has set aside about 40 acres east of the Robinson Observatory for construction of a solar farm.<\/p>\n
It is Norvell\u2019s job to keep that project and others on track.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s not new to Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½. Norvell came to the university in 2001 as energy manager, and in the past decade has served as director of sustainability and energy management, saving the university\u00a0more than\u00a0$14 million through energy-efficiency projects. For the past two years, Norvell has been assistant vice president of facilities.<\/p>\n
Among the university\u2019s other projects that Norvell has had a hand in is the construction of a natural gas-fueled power plant on the main campus. It\u2019s been providing about a third of the campus\u2019 electricity since its launch in late 2012, reducing Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s dependency on outside utilities that may use less-clean fuel. Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ is considering building a similar plant to serve its planned downtown campus.<\/p>\n
In addition, Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ is constructing and planning several buildings with sustainable designs that are expected to earn LEED designation from the U.S. Green Building Council.<\/p>\n
Norvell hopes to make the campus\u2019 sustainability projects academically accessible to students who will be able to learn firsthand how they work \u2013 and offer input.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many passionate students out there,\u201d Norvell said. \u201cI want to get them very much involved in the workings of the university at all levels. I want to get their ideas. We want the campus to be a living laboratory for students.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Norvell was 12 years old when he mailed off an application for a license from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, built a still in his back yard and began fermenting oranges to produce ethanol to power his lawnmower. \u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in science,\u201d Norvell said. \u201cEven as a kid I was doing things out of the…","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":66060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,6,24,27],"tags":[14942,1584,5722,13725],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-66056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-community","category-science-technology","category-student-life","tag-david-norvell","tag-environment","tag-sustainability-and-energy-management","tag-sustainability-initiatives"],"yoast_head":"\n